Human rights and jus Cogens: Questioning the use of normative hierarchy theory in human rights law
type: CreativeWork
description: A Jus cogens is a hierarchically superior norm 'from which no derogation is permitted'. This peremptory norm suggests that there is a hierarchy among rules relating to international law. As such the recent trend of placing human rights norms in the catalogue of jus cogens has had a significant impact on both domestic and international law. For instance, in Barcelona Traction, Light and power Co, Ltd (Belgium v Spain), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), when making a distinction between the obligation of states towards the international community as whole and those arising vis-Ñ -vis another state, held that the former are obligation erga omnes in view of their importance
abstract: A Jus cogens is a hierarchically superior norm 'from which no derogation is permitted'. This peremptory norm suggests that there is a hierarchy among rules relating to international law. As such the recent trend of placing human rights norms in the catalogue of jus cogens has had a significant impact on both domestic and international law. For instance, in Barcelona Traction, Light and power Co, Ltd (Belgium v Spain), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), when making a distinction between the obligation of states towards the international community as whole and those arising vis-Ñ -vis another state, held that the former are obligation erga omnes in view of their importance
author: Mayua, Jim Nzonguma
language: eng
date published: 2009
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:00Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Public Law

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4718